The Tata group, India’s salt-to-steel conglomerate, is once again the country’s most valued brand. A new ranking by Interbrand, a global brand consultancy, has valued the Tata brand at Rs66,940 crore ($10 billion).
The value has inched higher by 12% since last year when it was valued at Rs59,840 crore. The Tata brand topped Interbrand’s ranking in 2014 as well. Reliance Industries, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and Airtel, the telecom services brand, are at the second and third spots, respectively.
Here are the top 10 brands with their brand value:
While most of the companies in the top 10 ranking are private companies, only two public sector firms made it to the list. The Life Insurance Corporation of India, the country’s state-owned insurer ranks fourth, followed by India’s largest lender, the State Bank of India.
Software and Starbucks
To calculate the brand value, Interbrand analysed each brand on three parameters—financial profit, role of the brand in consumers’ purchasing decision and overall brand strength.
“The big contributor to the growth in Tata’s brand value has been Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),” Ashish Mishra, managing director of Interbrand India, told the Business Standard newspaper. TCS, the group’s software services company, is India’s biggest IT firm.
The $108 billion Tata group was founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868 as a trading company. Today, it has over 100 operating companies in more than 150 countries. The group has acquired some huge international assets, including the purchase of European steelmaker Corus in 2006, and Jaguar Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company in 2008. Tata has also brought popular cafe chain Starbucks to India and launched the country’s cheapest car, the Nano.